“You.”
The word landed clean and dangerous. I forced my eyes back to the circuit.
“We can’t be stupid,” I said. “Not here.”
“I’m not asking for stupid.”
We returned to the hotel a careful distance apart.
At lunch Elena called across the hospitality suite. “Pulaski. Conference room three. Jonathan has altitude notes for you.”
The access was packaged to look routine. In the small room Jonathan translated technical nuance into language I could use, precise and generous. He wasn’t just answering questions; he was teaching me how to see the race through his eyes.
A knock cut the moment. Elena stepped in exactly on schedule.
“You got what you needed?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Her smile was polite, assessing. She’d seen enough.
After she left, Jonathan studied me. “You’re thinking.”
I hesitated, then chose the least explosive truth. “This is… a lot of access,” I said quietly. “And it’s going to look like a lot of access.”
Jonathan’s gaze sharpened. “You think Elena did that to help you, or to help me?”
“Both,” I said, and that was the problem.
Jonathan’s mouth tilted, not quite a smile. “Elena’s loyal. If she thinks something makes me steadier, she’ll make space for it.”
“And if I’m the something,” I said.
He didn’t deny it.
“Sunset trail, at 8 tonight,” he said instead. “Public enough to be innocent. Private enough to breathe.”
I should have said no.
I didn’t.
All afternoon I kept my head down—filed copy, asked safe questions, laughed at the right moments—until the clock boxed me in. At eight, I met him like it was just another scheduled obligation.
We watched the sun fall behind the mountains and pretended it was perspective we were after.
“I know you’re there,” Jonathan said, his shoulder warm against mine. “That’s enough. It has to be.”
“Tomorrow,” I said.
“Tomorrow.”
Later in the week
Friday confirmed what we’d suspected: pace, but not dominance. I filed clean copy and went to the media center.
Mason slid into the empty chair beside me. “I’ve been considering your Hirsch features. Monaco spotlight. Analysis he provides when you ask the right questions. Altitude piece with his quotes. This paddock notices patterns,” he said mildly.
My fingers paused over the keys.
